Cash subsidies ruled out for electric cars

WA’s Energy Minister has ruled out throwing cash at consumers to spur the uptake of electric cars after Federal Labor said it wanted within a decade 50 per cent of all new vehicles sold to be electric.

Bill Johnston has welcomed the Federal Opposition’s electric vehicle target by saying it would give the market a clear signal and bring Australia into line with many other countries.

But Mr Johnston said the McGowan Government would be unlikely to provide cash incentives for people to buy electric vehicles in a manner similar to the State’s trouble-plagued former solar subsidy scheme.

The scheme had to be shut down in 2012 after runaway demand led to a blow-out in costs.

As part of its long-awaited climate change policy, Labor said by 2030 half of all new cars sold would need to be electric, with the Federal Government fleet to have a deadline of 2025.

Labor will also bring in tougher emissions standards by requiring retailers ensure petrol cars sold are limited to an average 105g of CO2 a kilometre travelled.

Mr Johnston said State governments were limited in what they could do to encourage adoption of electric vehicles, noting the Commonwealth had more influence via the tax system.

“I think there’s more actions the State Government can take to prepare the State for electric vehicles but I’m not certain that cash incentives or those sort of things is the right approach,” Mr Johnston said.

With demand for elec-tricity from the grid in WA plunging because of soaring output from solar panels, Mr Johnston said electric cars loomed as a counterweight. He said though WA was a big State and electric cars were not yet suitable for longer trips, this would change and most journeys happened in Perth in any case.

“There are targets around the world for 50 per cent by 2025 and 2030 — in China and India and parts of Europe — so there’s no question that the vehicles will be available by then,” Mr Johnston said.

“And you need to set bold targets if we’re going to have significant change in the vehicle fleet.

“Setting a target means you need to identify all the steps you need to take to support that outcome.”